Ah. There you are. I was wondering where you’d got to.

It’s funny- I can remember Edinburgh Festivals in the past where I got to do regular blogging. Not this year, though- it’s Thursday morning, I’m going to be heading off to see my final screening soon (Pixar’s WALL-E, one I’ve been seriously looking forward to), and I think I’ve been able to pause twice in the last seven days. Balancing two interviews, the related work (transcribing, editing), getting enough sleep and watching as many movies as possible has not been the easiest job- it’s been one of those times when every single hour is spoken for, and you simply can’t take your eye off the ball. And, just to make things even better, I don’t even get to stop. Today is the trip home, so won’t be too heavy duty- but tomorrow, I’m interviewing Tarsem Singh, director of The Fall, I’ve got a stack of proofreading to do when I’m home, plus two reviews already of films I’ve seen here. We’re off on holiday a week on Friday- and for various reasons, the time up until then is simply going to be insane. I’ll get through it, but I can’t help feeling it’d be nice to acheive a little balance in my life- going from the kind of frustrating “what the hell am I going to do now?” quiet of a couple of weeks ago to this kind of full-on craziness is a little too much to cope with at times.

Whoblogging on last week’s episode will be happening, but at a point where I’m actually able to string two sentences together. It might need to be a double-bill with this week’s instalment (an episode which looks like it’s certainly going to be off-the-scale in terms of “How many past characters can we cram in?”, which isn’t necessarily a good sign…)

Now- must go and persuade myself that I am really awake.

Zzzzzz

Saturday evening, and enthusiasm is not exactly running high. Partly it’s the general sleep deprivation of hostel living (no matter how long you sleep, it’s never quite enough…), and partly it’s the general stresses and strains of trying to fit watching as many films as possible into as short a space, along with doing all the work I’m doing on the interviews. The first one has been transcribed and roughly thrown together, which’ll make tomorrow much easier- but I’ve got another to do tomorrow, and ideally they’re all due in on Monday.

Between all this, I haven’t had many opportunities to truly enjoy the bit I like of film festivals- sitting in a screening room watching lots of movies. I’m averaging two a day at a moment (but will hopefully increase once I get past Monday), and yesterday was TIRIMASU, a heartwarming and very charming Dutch drama about an ageing actress, and BANANAZ, a behind-the-scenes documentary on cartoon band Gorillaz which was thinly made, far too shambolic and at least half an hour too long. Tonight I’ve got two hours of a documentary about the Abu Girab photography scandal (it’ll be depressing, but at least I’ll be paid for it), and hopefully the evening will get a lot more fun with creepy-looking Spanish time travel murder mystery TIMECRIMES.

I also went to a party last night- but film related parties are very rarely the kind of environments where I can have fun. The free booze was nice and the place was fairly roomy, but I didn’t truly enjoy myself, and it generally ended up with me feeling that I need to throw a lot more energy into my writing. I’m never going to feel like I completely belong here, so it’d be far more sensible to head in a direction where I have a chance…

The one advantage is that with my decision to not do the whole festival, I’m not too far from my departure date. Next Thursday is my exit, and if I can keep myself busy, I really don’t think it’ll take too long to come around.

Tick tock tick tock…

Arrived in Edinburgh- and it’s strange to be here without the mania of the Fringe Festival going on. It’s almost as if the city is half dressed, and there’s a certain feeling of energy that’s lacking. Speaking of lacking energy, I’ve also briefly encountered the problems of staying in a hostel when someone in my eight-bed dorm on the first night turned out to be an epic snorer. And, of course, he had to be on the bunk directly above me. And, to make life even weirder, he turned out to be a journalist I know who’s also covering the Festival- but thankfully, last night turned out to be a whole lot easier. Yesterday, though, was a bit of a wash-out thanks to being so ridiculously tired, but I still managed two films- MARRIED LIFE (a stylish noir-esque drama, well acted but a little too on-the-nose) and ELEGY (Brilliantly acted, gorgeously made, but very dour and a little hard going at times).

This morning, I’ve got the first of three interviews I’m doing at the festival (one of which, ironically, is happening next Friday as a phone interview because I’ll be back home by then…), and I’ve got to try and factor in sorting the interview (and the one on Sunday) as well as seeing as much as is possible. I’ve said it before- Film Festivals aren’t completely designed for human beings, but I’m here, I’m busy, and I’m going to get through it somehow.

The adventures continue…